


In the Safety of Muggle London

by SierraJaneSims



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Banter, Bisexual Harry, Blow Jobs, Brief Hinny, F/M, M/M, No Beta, Not Canon Compliant, PoC Harry, Post-Hogwarts, Slow Burn, drinking to cope with feelings, hermione and malfoy are friends, miscommunications, very brief - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 05:22:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20501573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SierraJaneSims/pseuds/SierraJaneSims
Summary: “So…”Hermione began, rocking her knee back and forth to bump into Harry’s. Green met hazel in a silent conversation and Harry rolled his eyes.“What ‘Mione? Are you wondering if I’m going to date Malfoy just because he’s gay?”“No I’m wondering if you’re going to shag Draco because he’s gay.” She retorted succinctly sipping her coffee. Drunk Hermione was ridiculously quick witted and it never paid off to try and outsmart her or out-sass her.Harry blushed a little at the thought of shagging Draco Malfoy but pushed it out of his mind. That would be too weird.“No ‘Mione but I think I will call him up to hang out sometimes. He’s actually kind of a funny bloke now that he’s not you know part of the junior death squad.”





	In the Safety of Muggle London

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy this one got away from me. It didn't feel like a story with chapters so it's just a very long one shot. There is sex in this fic but almost entirely at the very end. There is brief Ginny/Harry in the beginning but that stops pretty quick.

Harry hated the fog that rolled through the city every morning. The gray mist that would swallow everything in sight, tumbling through the stone buildings and extinguishing all the glittering lights reminded him of the smoke trailing behind the Death Eaters as they descended on Hogwarts. It reminded him of the Forbidden Forest where he said goodbye to his family before walking to meet his death. It reminded him of the mist that swallowed Sirius behind the veil at the Ministry.

So, in the morning Harry hid in his bed. He’d let the large mass of red and gold afghans gifted to him from Mrs. Weasley and the down comforter he’d purchased himself drown his senses. He would close the curtains and sip on his tea and pretend he was at the Burrow waiting for everyone to wake up. He pretended it was before the war and that he could still hear Fred and George plotting some great prank. He imagined going back to Hogwarts and seeing Dumbledore and Dobby. He thought about visiting Tonks and Lupin and Teddy over the break.

He would continue to dream like this as he watered his plants and fed his two cats Padfoot and Prongs and the group of goldfish which he affectionately called the Holyhead Harpies and he would clean his dinner plate from the night before and the day would start all over again. The very long, lonely day. 

Harry had considered getting a proper muggle job somewhere nearby like the grocery down the street or the coffee shop, but he was worried that someone someday would recognize him and then he’d have to remember and he wasn’t ready to do that and so he did nothing instead.

It had been two years since the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry had assumed that once Voldemort was dead that his life would feel right and everything would fall into place. He would marry Ginny and Ron would marry Hermione and they would raise their children together and the world would be at peace. 

Except that as soon as Harry felt Voldemort leave the world he had been filled with a greater sense of dread than he had ever felt before. An overwhelming, dreadful, empty unknown.

* * *

The Battle had been exhaustive. He had after all died and come back to life and that was on top of hours of expending physical, emotional and magical energy. He had twigs in his hair and jacket and dirt from the Forest covered his face. His dark skin had turned ashy from all the heat and it itched terribly. His hair which was always wild was kinked in way he didn’t want to worry about and his lips were definitely larger and bloodier than normal. He felt like he was held together by very fragile strings and every time someone came up to him with the same idolizing look in their eyes another snapped until he had fallen apart. He’d woken up in his bed in the Gryffindor dorm hours later with Hermione and Ron by his side, asleep and cuddling beside him.

Pale sunlight filtered through the burgundy curtains casting the room in a crimson film. The bed beneath him was his own and he almost regretted being brought to this place he had called his own when he felt so very unlike himself. He shifted to look harder at the couple beside him.

His stomach rolled and he ran to the bathroom before emptying his stomach. When he was finished Ron and Hermione were still asleep wrapped in each other and Harry felt the urge to leave but he wasn’t sure what awaited him on the other side of the doors. He noticed at the foot of his bed a pile of what must be his belongings including a surprisingly familiar thin piece of fabric. He slipped on his robe and thought the Invisibility Cloak must’ve been retrieved by someone from the Forest. He slipped the Cloak on over himself and left through the door.

He had never expected the first person to greet him to be Draco Malfoy who, in all honestly looked like hell. The slender boy was fighting sleep as he stood by the portrait with a wand in hand. Harry remembered suddenly that he had Malfoy’s actual wand with him and he rummaged in his pockets to check for it. He found two wands-Malfoy’s and the long heavy handled Elder wand that must’ve been left with him from Voldemort. 

Harry stared at the twisted wood in his hand and felt almost sick by the surge of power flowing through his wand arm. As soon as he could he would destroy the wand. He needed to figure out his own wand situation first but he could give Draco his wand back. The Elder Wand would work for him much better and truly the wand was Malfoy’s at its core. His eyes snapped back up to see the pale Slytherin still standing guard and he wondered why he was here. While it’s true that he had indeed switched sides during the Battle of Hogwarts, even going as far as to stun his own father before Lucius could kill Hermione, he was still not quite accepted by the Gryffindor’s and certainly not enough to stand guard over Harry. 

He slipped closer and noticed the dried blood on the pale neck. His grey eyes looked glazed over and there seemed to be salt tracks below as if he had been crying. His normally silver sleek hair was mussed and coated in dust and grime. He looked…vulnerable. He looked how Harry felt and Harry didn’t know what to do with that so instead he quietly whispered a sleeping charm and after he had crumpled to the ground he propped him up against the wall so he might be more comfortable. He lay Malfoy’s wand on the young man’s lap before quietly exiting the portrait to find the hallways bustling with activity.

Hundreds of witches and wizards were moving about, repairing what they could and cleaning up the general mess. He noticed red mixing with blue and yellow and even green in the mass effort and it made him smile a little to see that some Slytherins had stayed to help. A familiar voice caught his attention and Harry turned to find Ginny telling one of the paintings a message to give to McGonagall. He smiled to see her alive and working hard to right all the wrongs Harry felt deep in his bones. She was a healing force and he knew then that he needed her comfort more than anything. 

Quietly he walked behind her and hoping it didn’t scare her too much he placed a hand on her arm and whispered, “Ginny, it’s me.” She jumped a little but quickly calmed realizing who it was. She smiled and then casually led him to an empty room nearby. She shut and locked the door and he took off the cloak just in time for her mouth to find his. He kissed her back fiercely taking this opportunity to let some of his tension release. Before he knew it he was crying and she was helping him out of his robes and they were fumbling but with purpose and when she bit his neck he cried out and his attentions turned fiery.

She gave as good as she got and by the end they were sweating and crying and tired and sated and it was perfect. They lay on the ground on their robes and held each other for a few hours just talking and connecting until Harry remembered the oddity of Malfoy watching over the trio and mentioned it to Ginny. She laughed. She explained that McGonagall had been worried that if he was a part of the clean up crew he might be targeted by others with remaining aggression and he had insisted on helping somehow so Hermione had offered him the job of watching over them. 

“He didn’t like the idea of being a ‘babysitter’ for you lot but he didn’t have much of a choice.” She had smiled at the memory and Harry wondered what it had been like to see such unlikely partners interact. 

Finally they got up and dressed and shared a few more lingering, sweet kisses before leaving their secret hideaway and they rejoined the fray much to Harry’s displeasure. It was awkward and full of thanks he didn’t feel he deserved and looks he didn’t understand and just a feeling of unknown expectations. 

A week later when they had finished cleaning up Hogwarts he had left the school for the final time with one thought.

What now?

* * *

**The Boy Who Lived Defeats Voldemort**

**Rita Skeeter**

**The famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the Savior has finally defeated his lifelong enemy Voldemort in a fierce battle at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Eye witnesses report many strange bouts of magic that night including the seeming death of Harry Potter before a miraculous resurrection. It is reported that Harry Potter killed Voldemort by using an Expelliarmus spell that backfired Voldemort’s own killing curse back at him. It is unclear at this time why the Expelliarmus spell caused such an odd reaction but nonetheless the world is now a brighter place because of it. **

**Immediately afterward Harry Potter collapsed and was rushed off by fellow Trio members Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley (who are now reported to be dating). There has been no comment about why Harry Potter collapsed nor has there been any talk about who will take over the Ministry of Magic now that the Death Eaters are being rounded up. **

  
  


**Search For Death Eaters Continues**

**Rita Skeeter**

**It has been two months since the Battle of Hogwarts and while most of the known Death Eaters have been captured of confirmed dead there are some at large that are still wanted by the new Minister of Magic Percy Hawthorne. Below is printed a list of Death Eaters thought to be alive and incredibly dangerous. If found please do not attempt to subdue them, instead contact the ministry as soon as possible. **

**Fenrir Greyback**

**Gregory Goyle**

**Philipa Rosier**

**Theodore Cratt**

**Hugh Forthright**

**Ogden Burr**

  
  
  


**Former Death Eaters Sentenced to Dementors Kiss**

**Rita Skeeter**

**Six months in this new Voldemort free world and a group of convicted Death Eaters have been sentenced to the Dementors Kiss after a damning testimony by Draco Malfoy (a former Death Eater himself). Among those he spoke against was his father Lucius who is sentenced to be Kissed next week. Although Draco Malfoy is a known past Death Eater he has been pardoned and forgiven publicly by Harry Potter himself and with his recommendation the Minister of Magic has pardoned Draco legally as it is attested to by many witnesses that the younger Malfoy had indeed switched sides and assisted in the defeat of Voldemort and saved the life of Hermione Granger (who has broken up with Ronald Weasley just six months after their start). **

**No comment from Harry Potter about the sentencing as of yet and this reporter notes that it is very difficult to get any comments from the young hero lately. **

  
  


**The Golden Trio: Where are They Now?**

**Rita Skeeter**

**Rita: After reaching out for a full year after the Battle of Hogwarts we finally got the Golden trio in our studio for an interview to review the past, catch up on the present and speculate on the future. First up we have miss Hermione Granger. How are you Hemione?**

**Hermione-I’m fine Rita.**

**Rita: Good, good. Let’s start off with what I’m sure is on everyone’s mind. You and Ron? Just friends?**

**Hermione-Oh. Erm yes well, Ron and I agreed that while we love each other, it’s really more of a familial type of love.**

**Ron-Right it just didn’t feel quite right ‘spose. **

**Rita: And is there anyone on your radar now miss Granger? Perhaps Draco Malfoy who famously saved your life by stunning his own father?**

**Hermione-Oh god no. I mean, that came out harsh I guess. No Malfoy is…well there is just um…We didn’t really get on in school and he’s nice and all now but I just…the attraction isn’t there on either side.**

**Ron-Is this all you wanted to talk to us about? I mean like you’ve got Harry Bloody Potter over here and you want to talk about who Hermione’s keen on? Why don’t you ask us about something real like how the war affected us all and whatnot. Blimey.**

**Rita: Did I strike a nerve Mr. Weasley? Was the split perhaps not as a mutual as we are to believe?**

**Ron-Wha? No that’s not-blimey Harry do we have to do this?**

**Harry-No this was probably a bad idea. I do have something I want to say though.**

**Rita: Yes Mr. Potter?**

**Harry- Right well…there’s not really any way to say this without it seeming wrong but here it goes. I appreciate everyone’s support and help to stop Voldemort…everyone’s been great and I appreciate the continued efforts of our Minister of Magic to keep fighting the battles for our rights and safety. That being said. I need some time to myself to really wrap my head around everything that has happened in my life really and I can’t do that as “the Chosen One” or the “Boy Who Lived”. I guess what I’m saying is this. I’m going to be…going away for a while and living in the muggle world. Please, if you are truly appreciative of what we went through, give me this time and let me be. If you see me out and about don’t approach me and just let me…decompress a bit. I’m sorry.**

  
  
  


**The Boy Who Left Still Missing**

**Rita Skeeter**

**It’s been a year since Harry Potter left the magic world for some time off as he put it and we can’t help wondering when he will return if ever. Mr. Potter has split from long term girlfriend Ginny Weasley (Player for the Holyhead Harpies) and rumor has it that not even Hermione Granger nor Ronald Weasley have heard from him in months. Miss Granger has recently introduced a new law up for the vote called Dobby’s Law that moves to release House Elves from obligate contracts and instead offer them employment. Mr. Weasley has recently started the Auror program with the proud blessing of his father Arthur Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Object department. **

* * *

Harry set his tea cup in the sink and meandered over to the calendar. It was the twelfth of May and a Wednesday. Hermione had promised to come over that weekend and stay through Sunday and Ron said he’d be able to pop by Saturday as well but he’d have to leave Sunday morning. 

Harry leafed through the mail, both muggle and wizard as he still had Hedwig deliver from select contacts in the wizarding world. He snorted at the latest article from Rita Skeeter that Hermione had sent to him with a note that read “Did you hear that we aren’t speaking Harry?”

There was a letter from Luna and Neville talking about Hogwarts and McGonagall and a letter from the muggle dentist reminding him it was time for a cleaning. Harry didn’t really want to get a dentist but Hermione had quietly mentioned that a good dentist was an important part of a healthy life and whenever Hermione spoke like that he couldn’t say no. She only got that tone of voice when she thought about her parents who were still in Australia. She had gone back after the Battle and had tried to restore their memories but had been unsuccessful and instead of trying to force it and possibly hurt them she had let them go.

It had been a heartbreaking time and it was around then that she and Ron had realized they weren’t really a couple but more like a couple of friends. It had been a little awkward at first but they were back to their old ways again the three of them were as close as they could be with all their newfound responsibilities. 

Hermione had of course gone back to finish her schooling at Hogwarts and then had started working for the Ministry. She was in fact proposing the Dobby’s Law and it looked good to get passed.

Ron and George had moved in together and while Ron had tried working at the joke shop he had eventually decided he wanted to be an Auror. His test scores weren’t quite up to snuff but honestly the Golden Trio could’ve done anything they wanted Harry thought. 

He himself had received so many job offers he couldn’t even read them all. He had stopped and considered McGonagall’s offer to work at Hogwarts as D.A.D.A professor but he had in the end declined. He was only 20 after all and he figured he had time to reconsider.

The problem was he didn’t know what he wanted or needed to do. He felt like he had already achieved the most he possibly could and now he was left with an entire world looking to him to see what else he would do. It was incredibly nerve wracking and it seemed easier to hide away from it all. He and Ginny had tried to work it out but in the end she never understood his need to abandon all things magic to work on himself. She didn’t understand that despite everything he had been through he didn’t intrinsically consider himself a part of the magic world like she did.

Ron had been confused when they broke up about who to be mad at and who to comfort but in the end Harry had assured him that it was ok to be angry with him and to help Ginny through it. Thankfully she seemed to be doing better lately and had even asked after Harry when Rob came back from a visit. 

The world was still turning. People were living and dying normally and there was no more fear in their hearts, just an old dark murmur that would never quite go away but no longer crippled them all. Things were looking up but in all of this Harry wasn’t sure where he belonged and so he stayed. 

But it was lonely out here and he felt withdrawn and depressed. He didn’t know what to do.

* * *

“You need to get out of here more often Harry.” Hermione chastised as she put away the groceries they had just bought. 

“I get out ‘Mione.” Harry lied and she snorted.

“Right. You know you can’t lie to me Harry. I know you too well.” He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. She paused in her activity and nonchalantly said, “I ran into Draco the other day.” Harry listened, wondering why she seemed almost hesitant to continue talking.

“He asked about you actually.” Harry raised a brow. That was unexpected but not something that would be weird for Hermione to mention to him. She glanced over to see his expression and smiled quickly.

“He wants to see you.” Both of Harry’s brows shot up at that. That was certainly an odd thing. He didn’t hate Malfoy but he definitely didn’t have a friendship with him. He thought about the news and thought it still didn’t match Hermione’s reluctance and then he realized.

“What did you say?” She bit her lip and nervously smiled.

“I might have said we would have him for dinner.” 

“What?” She came closer and hurriedly tried to elaborate.

“Well Harry I mean I just thought that you were saying that it’s kind of lonely and Ron and I are so busy that we can’t see you much and Ginny isn’t ready to visit you yet and Malfoy’s kind of in the same position as you with time and I just I dunno. I worry about you Harry and I wanted to see if maybe you enjoyed Draco’s company now and if you did maybe you’d have more fun.” 

Harry laughed. “You wanted to arrange a playdate with Draco? What are you my mother?” She rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder. 

“Harry! I’m just worried about you is all.” She paused and quietly added, “We all are you know.” It was the sincerity of the last part that made Harry’s heart hurt. He knew he worried them. Hermione had actually confronted him a few months back and asked his he was thinking about hurting himself. He wasn’t but he felt incredibly guilty nonetheless for making her think it was a possibility. That’s when he’d gotten the cats. They were brothers at the pound and originally he was just going to get Padfoot but he couldn’t bear to separate him and his brother. So, he’d named them after the two father figures in his life. The men who would’ve been able to tell Harry what to do with his life. The two best friends who died protecting him. 

He saw the same flicker of worry in Hermione’s eyes now that he did when she had confronted him then and he knew he’d say yes to her. If only to ease her worry a little. Besides, he hadn’t seen Malfoy in a year and he truly was curious about him. The last time he’d seen him had been right after the sentence against Lucius had been carried out. He hadn’t cried but Harry could see the pain in his eyes that echoed Harry’s when Sirius had died. He imagined it was hard to lose someone you loved even if that person was horrible. 

* * *

Hermione arranged for the three of them to have dinner the next weekend. Ron had not wanted to be a part of the activity which they had expected although it was more for fear of it being awkward than disdain for Malfoy. He still didn’t like Malfoy but he has respect for him after saving Hermione’s life and testifying against the Death Eaters. He had actually been the one to recommend that Harry release a statement of support for Malfoy in the hope that he could be pardoned. After all he was just a kid when he had agreed to take the dark mark and he hadn’t actually ever killed anyone. 

They contemplated taking him out to dinner but knowing they’d likely talk about wizarding topics they chose instead to invite him to Hermione’s flat which was on the other side of town. They wanted to keep Harry’s location a secret until he decided if he wanted to let Malfoy know. 

At half past 7 Harry apparated to Hermione’s flat and together they started to make dinner. Hermione had never been much good at cooking, despite many efforts to improve. Harry on the other hand had been in charge of cooking most of the Dursley’s meals as a child and was quite good at it. So, Harry was making sea bass over wild rice and lentils. Hermione was in charge of the salad and setting the table. Just as Harry was turning up the heat on the fish for a final sear the doorbell rang and Hermione ran to let in their guest, clutching her wand in her hand.

None of the three had given up the habit since the Battle of letting their wands out of the grasp. Harry doubted they would any time soon despite the relative safety now. Harry’s own wand was tucked in the waistband of his jeans. He had gone to see Olivander a few months after things had settled and they had worked together to make a new wand like his other. It wasn’t as good as the Elder wand had been but it was better than Draco’s had been so Harry had taken the new wand and destroyed the Elder Wand. 

“Good evening Granger,” He heard and Harry was surprised at the nervousness Draco’s voice roused in him. That was something he couldn’t worry about too much as Hermione walked in with a slightly awkward Malfoy behind her. He had clearly tried to dress up for the evening without being overly formal. He wore a nice pair of dark khaki pants and a forest green sweater pushed up to his forearms and a crisp white shirt beneath. His shoes were rich chestnut brown wingtips that were shiny with polish. His hair which had always been slicked back in school was now combed back in the same fashion without the gloss of the gel and a few stray piece fell to the front. Harry had never seen him look so…normal.

“Evening Potter.” Draco said with just a hint of the past sarcasm, though it seemed more like an accident because he cleared his thought and smiled. Harry smiled back and held out his hand for Draco to shake. His hand was warm and rougher than Harry would’ve thought, almost like he did work with his hands. That hardly seemed like a Malfoy trait though. 

“It’s good to see you Malfoy.” Harry affirmed with a firm squeeze of his hand. He noticed Malfoy flinch slightly and for a minute Harry wondered if his grip had been too tight but when Malfoy quietly corrected, “Call me Draco please” he realized the flinch had nothing to do with Harry’s grip but rather his words. 

“Of course.” Harry agreed suddenly feeling awkward. He looked to Hermione and saw she had a strange look on her face but she smiled and quickly ushered Draco to the dining room so Harry could finish plating the food. Harry quickly turned back to the fish to make sure they hadn’t burnt during the greetings and was pleased to find them done. He scooped the portions out to three plates and with ease he carried the plates to the table. 

Hermione had a modest flat with a small table that normally sat two people but they had transfigured a third chair and enlarged the table a bit to make it more comfortable. It was a round table so they didn’t have to worry about who sat by who and who was head of the table but rather it felt very equal. Harry quite liked that. 

Once they were all sat there was a minute of silence where no one knew what to say so instead they all began eating. Harry often cooked for him and Hermione so he wasn’t surprised to see she enjoyed the meal but he found himself watching Draco to see if he would like it. He wasn’t really sure what he was used to eating and if this would seem like ‘muggle fare’ to him. To his delight Draco closed his eyes and made an appreciative noise.

“This is quite good Potter.” Harry smiled brightly and feeling a little playful retorted, “Call me Harry, please.” 

Draco eyed him warily before snorting a laugh and nodding. Hermione grinned at them and launched into the topic of food. They reminisced about their favorite Hogwarts’ meals and their likes and dislikes. Harry was surprised to know that he and Draco enjoyed similar foods. They both like turnips and radishes and beets-the three of which comprised the holy trinity of disgusting for Hermione. Draco disliked cilantro which made Harry groan about missing out on good Mexican food without a love of cilantro and Harry mentioned his distaste for mint to which Draco asked, “How can you hate mint Harry? It’s the taste of everything pure and clean.”

To which Harry-at this point perhaps a little tipsy from the wine and extra company- blurted out, “Maybe I don’t like pure and clean.” Which had Draco and Hermione roaring of laughter and Harry blushing.

Inevitably the conversation turned to romances and the delicacies therein as most conversations between young adults involving alcohol do. Somehow their originally civil conversation turned into a muggle drinking game called Never Have I Ever and that’s where the trouble began.

“Never have I ever had sex in Hogwarts,” Draco smirked as both Harry and Hermione blushed and took a drink. “And they try to say Slytherins are the sluts of Hogwarts! Go on.”

They were playing a bit more involved version of the game where you elaborated on your answers so Hermione sighed heavily and said, “Well I mean…there was a couple times with Ronald and…well…erm…maybe there was this one time with Krum.

The boys laughed heartily at her embarrassment. 

“Och Herminny…Eet ees so gud.” Harry imitated and she shrieked and smacked his shoulder. Once they had calmed a bit they looked to Harry and he smiled softly.

“Just once. Me and Ginny right after I woke up from the Battle. It was just kind of…instinctual to feel better I think.” 

“That’s where you went!” Draco cried exasperated. Harry looked at him with interest. He had actually never asked what had happened after he went missing for a few hours. He had just shown back up and Hermione had chided him for not waking them up but they had never gone in to detail. 

“Where did you think I’d gone? Hermione never elaborated back then.” Hermione tinged red and looked away clearly uncomfortable but Malfoy just grinned and leaned back in his chair.

“Well Granger woke me up from my magically induced sleep and started screaming at me asking where you’d gone. I told her I didn’t know what she was on about and she punched me in the face,” Hermione covered her eyes and moaned at the embarrassing memory and Harry barked in laughter.

“That makes twice ‘Mione?” 

“Oh shut it Harry.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Yes Granger got the pleasure of touching my beautiful face twice. Anyway after she punched me we saw the wand and realized you must’ve done this though I don’t know how I didn’t see you coming…”He trailed off clearly annoyed Harry had outsmart him and Harry realized he didn’t know about his invisibility cloak. They had never told anyone about it since it was technically a Deathly Hallow after all but Harry had the sudden urge to assure Draco that he had an unfair advantage then. He remained quiet however and instead shifted forward in his chair to refill their glasses that were nearing empty. 

Hermione’s cheeks were in a state of constant flush now and she had removed her cardigan leaving her in only a tank top and lounge pants. Harry liked the way she looked wit her hair up and took a minute to appreciate once again what a beautiful, smart woman she was and how lucky he was to have her as his friend. There had been a time-third year-brief though it was where he had wondered what it would be like to kiss her but that had changed when he realized Ron was head over heels with her(even if he was unaware at the time).

Draco sat back in his chair, his hair messier and his pale skin glowing pink. Harry noticed that he kept licking his lips and he took a minute to focus on how that affected him, but it made him uncomfortable so he pushed it to the back of his mind and tapped Hermione’s leg with his foot.

“Your turn ‘Mione.” She started at the tap-clearly zoning out a little-but she recovered quickly and pursed her lips in contemplation before a wicked grin crossed her face. She took another moment, clearly thinking about how to word it before she settled.

“Never have I ever…kissed someone of the same sex.” She spoke very carefully clearly trying not to mess up the wording Harry knew exactly why. She was trying to get someone specific out. Namely himself.

He groaned and blush colored his face as he sipped quickly from his cup hoping that Draco might have missed it. He had not. A small wrinkle had made its way in between Draco’s eyebrows and he looked as if he was trying very hard to figure something out. Hermione cackled evilly beside him and nearly tipped out of her chair when Harry pushed against her shoulder with an exasperated sigh. 

“Explain!” Draco finally spat out and Harry shifted in his seat. 

“Alright fine. Well erm lets see…it was just after me and Ginny broke up and I went to a muggle bar down the road. It was nice to be somewhere that no one knew me and I was just kind of chatting with people simply because I could ya know? I could hold a conversation with them without it turning into talk about Voldemort or my parents or whatever really. One of the blokes I was talking to-name was Logan-was buying me drinks and we were chatting and I dunno one thing led to another and we ended up snogging and uh…well uh snogging for a bit.” Harry ended decisively. He didn’t need to recount the wildly inappropriate groping and grinding that had occurred in the bathroom later in the evening. 

He had been staring at the ceiling during his story, unsure how Malfoy would handle the story. He didn’t know him that well and purebloods didn’t seem to be the most tolerant of people. Even Ron had been a little weirded out by the revelation that Harry was bisexual. It had actually taken an entire night to spell out to the redhead that just because Harry liked to snog boys too didn’t mean he had  _ become _ “gay”. He had always been attracted to both boys and girls, it had just happened that he had only found girls he was interested in when he went to Hogwarts. Although he thought that Neville had turned out quite handsome.

Regardless Harry was nervous when he lifted his eyes to meet Draco’s, half expecting some sort of disgust and shock flooded him when instead he found understanding and … lust?

Malfoy breathed in deeply and cleared his throat, “So was that like a one-time drunken thing or…?” Harry’s brow furrowed at the overly interested tone in Malfoy’s voice.

“Uh well erm Logan and I met up a couple other times for drinks and…snogging. And there was another lad a couple months ago named Matthew from the pound who took me out but I didn’t like him as much. Not really my type I guess.” Draco drank in this information for a second and then chuckled lowly-almost in disbelief.

“Well damn. I never would’ve guessed. Oh,” He picked up his glass and stared at the drink before continuing, “I was so shocked I guess I forgot I needed to drink too.” Both he and Hermione’s jaws dropped as Malfoy downed his drink and Harry wasn’t sure which of them had asked but one of them had demanded an explanation much like Malfoy had. 

The blonde man colored slightly but he was less hesitant in his wording. 

“Well I think I may have more experience in this than you Harry but let’s see. My first was Blaise Zabini actually. He’d kill me if he knew I told you that but uh let’s see it was the summer before fifth year I think? He was over at my house a lot because his parents were meeting with mine and well he’s bisexual and actually he came on to me now that I think about it.” Draco stared off as if remembering something before continuing, “Anyway it doesn’t matter. We agreed it was just a little bit of fun…neither of us was coming out and that’s when stuff kind of …started for me so I didn’t have a lot of free time. I was really messed up at that time.” Draco swirled the contents of his glass and finished it off in one gulp. The group grew a little somber at the mention of Draco’s time with the Death Eaters but Hermione picked the mood back up with a quiet, “Blaise is pretty attractive.”

Draco laughed and nodded in agreement and Harry smiled, finishing up his wine as well.

The evening began to wind down and eventually they were saying their goodbyes at Hermione’s doorway.

“You sure you’re good to apparate? Don’t want you splinching.” Harry grumbled, noting that Draco looked a little light on his feet. He waved them off casually and ran a hand through his hair trying to tame it back. 

“I’m fine Pott-Harry. Harry.” Harry shivered a little at the way Draco repeated his name but he shook it off as a chill from the outside air. They exchanged numbers-Harry was a little surprise Draco had a cell phone but figured it did make sense to have one wizard or not-and with a crack and click of the door shutting he was gone. Hermione and Harry cleaned up in comfortable silence and retired to her living room to lounge on the couch for a minute, both nursing a cup of coffee. 

Outside Harry could hear the wind picking up and he knew he should leave soon to be there for the cats. They hated the wind and if they were stressed they were likely to get into mischief much like their namesakes. Hermione had actually enjoyed the names so much she had a custom cat box mat made with the text, “Mischief Meownaged”. Harry had laughed a little too hard at that and he imagined somewhere up there Sirius was equal parts horrified and amazed at the pun. 

“So…”Hermione began, rocking her knee back and forth to bump into Harry’s. Green met hazel in a silent conversation and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“What ‘Mione? Are you wondering if I’m going to date Malfoy just because he’s gay?” 

“No I’m wondering if you’re going to shag  _ Draco  _ because he’s gay.” She retorted succinctly sipping her coffee. Drunk Hermione was ridiculously quick witted and it never paid off to try and outsmart her  _ or  _ out-sass her. 

Harry blushed a little at the thought of  _ shagging  _ Draco Malfoy but pushed it out of his mind. That would be too weird. 

“No ‘Mione but I think I will call him up to hang out sometimes. He’s actually kind of a funny bloke now that he’s not you know part of the junior death squad.” She giggled lightly and followed his lead as he stood to place his cup in the sink.

“All right all right I won’t meddle and I won’t tease. Just know. I approve if you decide to act on all that sexual tension from tonight.” Harry raised a brow and folded his arms.

“Sexual tension? There was no sexual tension.” He reached up and tweaked her nose and she squawked her disapproval. 

“Yeah right  _ Potter _ .” She put special emphasis on his last name reminding him of al the times Draco had said that to him in school. He wondered suddenly if Draco had ever thought about…

“I should get back. Padfoot and Prongs don’t get on very well when the wind’s up like this.” He interjected, shifting the focus away from his buzzing mind. She quickly helped him get his things together and with a kiss to the cheek she said goodbye as he apparated back to his flat. The cats jumped a little at the snap of his return but they had been slowly getting better in reaction to his apparition. He wondered if there was a special breed of magical cat that didn’t react to all the sudden sounds and noises of magic as he’d never seen a familiar at Hogwarts react.

He cleaned up and slipped into his sheets, face still delightfully warm from the wine, laughter and coffee and when Padfoot and Prongs curled up at the foot of his bed when the wind began howling he started to drift off to sleep thinking of a certain blonde boy saying Potter with the most beautiful sneer he’d ever seen.

* * *

Ron had nearly choked on his chips when they had recounted their dinner with Malfoy the next weekend. They were all congregated at Harry’s place watching Teddy for Andromeda and he had made them an assortment of finger foods and snacks. They were having a game night full of wizarding chess, exploding snap and even a couple muggle games (Monopoly had been permanently and violently banned a few months prior). 

Teddy and Hermione were currently setting up the Jenga blocks (2 year old Teddy’s favorite game because of the noise and cheering) while Ron hung back in the kitchen watching Harry finish plating the food and stealing bites along the way.

“Malfoy likes blokes? Blimey.” He frowned to himself and it reminded Harry of how Ron had looked when he’d come out to him. Like he was wondering if Malfoy had ever been attracted to him in that way. Harry figured he would put the redhead out of his misery before he really started in on that line of thought. 

“Ron, I think Draco probably has a different type. I mean he was with Blaise Zabinni…not exactly your twin.” He scowled at that and flicked some food at Harry in retaliation but he seemed a bit more relaxed after and that was a good thing. 

He grabbed the plate and brought it out to the coffee table setting it down and garnering the attention of the ever ravenous Teddy Lupin. The boy’s curly hair turned bright red upon seeing Ron and he quickly made for the tray of food.

“Eat slowly Teddy,” Harry cautioned bringing a small plate of the food with him to his spot opposite Hermione for the game.

“Have you talked since then Harry?” Hermione asked too casually. He smirked at her lack of subtlety but let it pass and instead took his turn in their game. Ron remained oblivious to the undertones and that was fine with Harry. It’s not like anything was happening between him and Draco and he didn’t need to ruin Ron’s night anymore than he already had. Ron might be ok with Harry’s sexuality and he might be ok with Malfoy in theory but mixing those two might overload him. 

“Yeah just a bit. He’s invited us to his place on Sunday night for dinner actually.” 

“Sounds great to me, what time?” Hermione positively beamed. He couldn’t tell if it was just from happiness of settling their long history with Malfoy or if it was specifically that Harry and Draco had seemed to be past their rivalry but regardless he could agree with the feeling. It was nice to not have to worry about hating someone.

It was nice to have a friend who was separate from his other friends in a way. It was nice to know someone who went through terrible things like him and had survived. He was enjoying getting to know Draco Malfoy.

Just then Teddy took his turn and knocked the whole tower over to which the adults shouted “Jenga!” much to the amusement of the now white haired boy.

* * *

**Morning. About tonight, should I bring anything or…?**

** _Just Granger and yourself. I’ll handle the rest._ **

**Ok! Because I could bring some wine or food or something.**

** _You’re not the only one who can cook Harry and if you know anything about me you know I like to flaunt my skills. Allow me to “dazzle” you._ **

**…Are you really referencing that Skeeter article from a year ago?**

** _I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re referring to Harry. I’m merely saying that while I may not have “eyes like the irish hills and a smile that can bring any witch to her knees” I can at the very least “dazzle you senseless” with my culinary prowess._ **

**Ok I hate you.**

** _That’s ok Harry, not everyone can have good taste._ **

Harry tried not to think about the fact that what he and Malfoy were doing could very well be considered flirting. It was just their usual banter. They’d always been like this in school. It was just hard to read tone over text. That was all.

True to his word Malfoy did indeed “dazzle” them that evening with the food. While Harry was skilled in a simple home cooked meal with the occasional flair, Malfoy seemed to fully enjoy the gourmet. He had prepared for them bacon wrapped figs stuffed with goat cheese drizzled with a balsamic reduction to start, paired perfectly with a red wine. Filet mignon with bernaise sauce with asparagus and wild rice followed and Harry suspected that the sourdough dinner rolls where homemade as well. Dessert was a sumptuously dark chocolate flourless tart with unsweetened whipped cream and a raspberry compote paired with a light but spicy white wine that upon inspection came from Greece.

By the end of it the two Gryffindors were completely full and satisfied in every way. They had followed Draco’s lead and left the plates where they lay so they could join him in the living room. His flat was larger than Hermione’s but not by much, though the décor was drastically different. While Hermione was a bit cluttered with nic nacs and books everywhere, Draco was a minimalist. His walls and shelves were bare for everything save a good selection of books and a singular piece of art that hung over the fireplace.

It was abstract so a subject didn’t immediately jump out to him but the colors were bright and vibrant. Deep greens playing with brilliant gold. Draco caught Harry’s gaze and realized he was staring at the painting. His face had split into a wide grin.

“What do you think of it Harry?” Hermione’s eyes followed the boys and began to analyze the painting in earnest.

“It’s beautiful. I’m trying to figure out the subject.” Draco’s grin widened impossibly further and he chuckled, eyes cast at his drink.

“I suppose you could say it’s about a…merging…of two subjects in a way.” Hermione’s cheeks flushed bright red and she greedily gulped at her wine but it took Harry just a bit longer to understand what he had meant by that. 

He realized when he recognized that there were certain imprints that looked an awful lot like a…oh god. Harry went beet red head to toe and even with his tan skin his reaction was apparent. Draco laughed more openly at their discomfort.

“You’ve never seen one before?” He ventured.

They both shook their heads.

“Though,” Hermione elaborated, “I have heard of them. Wasn’t it terribly uncomfortable to make?” Draco’s eyes glistened with amusement.

“Not so. Just got to lather up in paint and then do what comes naturally I suppose. I must say though, it was rather slippery with two men slathered in paint combined with the act itself.”

Harry coughed and tried to clear the imagine of a very naked and aroused Malfoy from his brain. He definitely didn’t need that while he was trying to be the blonde’s friend and only his friend. It had dawned on Harry at that moment that being just friends with Draco Malfoy might be harder than he thought and then Harry had to get another glass of wine because that wasn’t the only thing that suddenly seemed hard.

* * *

A couple months passed and before he knew it July had come. Harry knew that Hermione and Ron were planning a surprise birthday but he was willing to let them think he didn’t know. He just hoped they didn’t plan to take him anywhere too public.

On the evening of his birthday he tried not to roll his eyes at Hermione’s apologies that they couldn’t come over because they were so  _ busy  _ with work. 

With no surprise and lots of acting on his part he yelled in delight at finding his apartment full of food, drinks, decor and people after returning from the dentist-an appointment Hermione had set up for him. 

Neville and Hannah said hello and asked about what he’d been up to. Luna and Ginny joined the conversation briefly-leaving the party soon after when Harry thought he saw Ginny becoming uncomfortable. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were talking animatedly with George about some kind of prank product. He realized with a pang of sadness that all these people had not seen him since his last birthday with the exception of Hermione, Ron and ironically Draco.

Speaking of Draco he had been quietly standing in the corner drinking all night. Everyone had politely acknowledged him but no one knew what to say to him. Harry made his way over under the pretense of needing another drink and nodded in his direction.

“You’re shit at acting Harry.” Draco quipped and Harry smiled. 

“What do you mean? I was totally and utterly surprised.” Draco snorted and they stood in companionable silence for a moment until Hermione announced it was time for presents. Harry blushed deeply. He hated getting presents but he’d learned long ago that arguing about them was worse than just accepting them.

Neville and Hannah had gotten him some rather interesting looking plants that would blossom with different colored flowers depending on his mood. Dean had gotten him a bottle of Ogden’s Fine Firewhiskey and Seamus had gotten him a naughty drinking card game which made everyone laugh. Ginny had given Harry a poster signed by the Holyhead Harpies. He felt a pang of guilt when he noticed that her signature was missing. Maybe she just felt weird signing it for someone she knew so well.

Luna had given him a wreath of odd looking flowers and plants and some silvery string that she said would help him sleep better. He decided he would hang it up just in case because he was having some trouble lately. George had given him a whole assortment of candy and joke products that was “mostly just for his birthday but if he happened to try them and had any opinions on them maybe he could tell George for research purposes?” 

Hermione had given him some books that they had been talking about and a magicked bookmark that would mark at the spot you actually stopped registering what you were reading rather than where you “technically read to”. Ron gave him a moving photo album of all the christmases and birthdays and memories since their fifth year. It was a little sparse during year seven for obvious reasons but still it meant a lot to Harry and he hugged Ron for a long time.

Draco had given him a little gift basket of sorts of different potions he may want or need including several Hangover Potions which Harry thought he might be using tomorrow morning at this rate. His eyes met Dracos and he smiled. 

“Thank you.” The pale boy blushed and muttered a “you’re welcome” before downing another drink. Hermione watched in abject interest for the rest of the night as the two chatted about anything and everything. 

Slowly everyone went home except for Draco and Hermione and Ron. They stayed up chatting for an hour and then Draco excused himself. Harry, who had drunk quite a bit at that point, walked him to the door and gave him a long hug as well. Hermione smirked. 

* * *

Draco was stuck. He had been meaning to paint something-anything-for days now and he couldn’t think of a subject he wanted to paint.  _ Not true.  _ He groaned at the thought. 

Correction. He couldn’t think of an  _ appropriate  _ subject to paint. He refused to paint Harry bloody Potter. That was just weird right? He thought for a minute and then sighed heavily. 

He had to paint something. No one had to see the painting. He was going to sell it to a muggle collector anyway and no one would have to know. Still he hesitated for a moment before going to retrieve the acrylics he needed.

Screw it. 

* * *

The dreams started out innocently. At first it was just him and Draco playing quidditch. Slowly though, the more they saw one another the scenarios had become more sexual in nature. Sometimes it was just subtext and undertones like when they were texting and sometimes Harry dreamt about making one of those paintings with Draco. 

Everytime Harry woke up covered in sweat and harder than he’d ever been and he would have to grudgingly address his issue. He preferred not to think of it as wanking to Malfoy but rather having a nice morning session after a weird dream that just so happened to be starring the blonde. Yeah. That was it. A casual coincidence. 

It was starting to take its toll. Harry was getting distracted easily and his friends were noticing. When he was watching Teddy he totally missed that the toddler had wandered off to the kitchen until he heard a loud bang that indicated he had knocked the bowl-thankfully metal-of cookie dough off the counter. Luckily Teddy hadn’t been hurt but Harry kicked himself for the distraction of wondering what Draco’s bedroom looked like.

At their weekly dinner Harry had been zoning out thinking about Draco shirtless in the Quidditch locker rooms while Hermione told the boys that her law got passed. She was rather miffed to have to repeat herself but there was an edge of satisfaction when she realized why he hadn’t been paying attention.

In the meantime Harry and Draco continued to hang out whenever they had a spare minute. At first it was meeting for coffee or lunch or to go grocery shopping. Eventually Harry invited him round to his flat and showed him where to apparate (a small alley alongside the building that was never occupied) and they began to hang out at their homes. 

Sometimes he would go to Draco’s to watch a Quidditch game and sometimes Draco would come to his to just read in silence in the same room. 

They texted everyday and soon Draco was such a big part of Harry’s life that he couldn’t remember what it felt like to hate the blonde boy. They had certainly hated one another in school, hadn’t they?

* * *

“You’re staring again Harry.” 

“Huh?” Harry shook himself out of the stupor he’d been in. 

Malfoy’s lip quirked though his eyes stayed glued to what he was reading.

He and Malfoy were lounging across from one another in Malfoy’s flat with the sun streaming in through the skylight. Malfoy-who Harry hated to admit-looked a bit like an angel with the halo of sunlight shining down on his white blonde hair-was flipping through a thick magazine that seemed to be articles on architecture and design. Padfoot-who had taken immediately to the Slytherin- lay curled up beside him.

Harry was holding a book he was trying to finish up before he saw Hermione next but in truth he had stopped reading several minutes ago and had zoned out staring at Draco. Blush colored his skin revealing the truth but he still tried to play it off with a casual, “Sorry I was zoning out.” 

Finally, Draco glanced over at him, slipping a bookmark into the magazine and setting it aside. He hummed to himself and let his eyes travel the length of Harry’s person, much to Harry’s delight and discomfort. 

The tension between them had in fact grown the more they saw one another and Harry was starting to understand what Hermione had meant about sexual tension. Thankfully Malfoy let the intense stare drop. 

“What would you like to do tonight? I was thinking that we could maybe go get some food at this Indian place down the street.”

Harry readily agreed but as they gathered up their coats and headed out into the frosty city Harry couldn’t help but think that maybe he owed Malfoy a chance-if he even wanted one and resolved to get to know him better on a personal level. 

* * *

_ Potter needs to be careful looking at me like that.  _ Draco thought. They were out at the mall so that Harry could purchase a gift for his godson’s birthday. They had been browsing the children’s toy section for what felt like hours before he had chosen a rather ordinary looking book made with plastic. Draco mentioned the simplicity and Harry grinned in amusement.

“No, it’s actually rather genius. Look if you take the pen and move it along the words it says them out loud. It’ll help him learn to read.” Harry demonstrated the admittedly impressive action and Draco raised his brows. It was an excellent gift and Draco voiced his opinion. A thought occurred to him then and he asked rather sheepishly, “Teddy is my cousin right? I should get him something too.”

That’s when Potter gave him The Look ™. The look you give someone when you want to kiss them. He knew the look well and he had seen it on Harry’s face before but he was beginning to worry that Harry-foolhardy as he was-might actually make a move to follow through. With a cough he excused himself to look around and ducked out of Harry’s sight.

Harry stood where Draco left him wondering why the blonde had blushed so brightly before leaving but decided to just buy the toy and leave Draco to his browsing. Maybe he was embarrassed that he didn’t know his cousin.

They rejoined outside the store, both with a present for Teddy and on the way back to the entrance of the mall they passed a poster for a movie coming out the next week.

“Oh! I wanted to see that actually!” Harry exclaimed pointing excitedly at the advertisement. Draco smiled.

“I love the book. I was planning to see it too.” Green eyes lit up and Harry replied, “Hermione loves the books too. We should all go together.” With that the matter was settled for there was no changing Harry’s mind and Draco really didn’t want to anyway.

* * *

The sun was burning Harry’s eyes but he didn’t much care at the moment. He continued to stare up into the sky, his eyes trained to the lithe figure of his ex-girlfriend as she sped between the other players. Beside him Hermione whooped and hollered and Ron stuffed his face with the turkey leg he had somehow acquired. 

Today was the opening game of the Holyhead Harpies fall season and Ginny had been kind enough to get seats for the three of them. George sat behind them with Molly and Arthur and surprisingly Charlie who was in the country visiting. For a moment Harry felt an overwhelming sense of peace. 

The Weasley family was so full of love and life and while Harry knew he would spend the rest of his life as an honorary member of the clan, he also knew it wouldn’t be from his connection to Ginny. Honestly it wasn’t even his connection to Ron or any one member of the family. They had just taken him in completely and when Harry had to talk about family or his childhood it was the Weasley’s and the Burrow that came to mind. 

The crowd roared when the Harpies managed a goal. He caught Ginny’s gaze and was pleased when he didn’t see her falter but rather grin. It had taken a bit to get here but they could finally be in the same space together with the same comfort they had before. He wasn’t sure they would be able to be one on one for a while but this is what was really important. Keeping the family together. 

Harry felt a hand land on his shoulder and George’s mop of hair swung beside his cheek.

“Heya Harry. Been a while hasn’t it?” There was no malice in the question, just a statement and a true one at that. Harry hadn’t ventured to Ron’s place in quite a while for several reasons. One being that Ginny was often visiting and he didn’t want to intrude on a place she felt safe and Ron and George as roommates may have been the grossest thing on Earth. They really had no concept of cleaning up after themselves and they never had any real food in the fridge either. 

“Sure has. How’s the shop?” George let his arms casually drape around Harry’s shoulder and he rested his head on his shoulder. As soon as he had found out Harry was bisexual he couldn’t let go of his new favorite joke-that Harry had been in love with George this whole time. The joke had turned into a casual gesture that rarely had any humor behind it anymore. They definitely weren’t interested in one another, but they were a bit more comfortable with the intimacy than most. 

“Eh s’all right. McGonagall’s gonna drive me out of business though! She’s got this new fella helping Filch out to search the bags before term and he’s bloody good. People aren’t buying as much because they know it’ll be found and chucked.” Harry smiled at that. McGonagall had basically lost her mind when she found out about the shop. She had really cracked down out of sheer necessity. She couldn’t very well have four hundred little tricksters on her hands. It had been almost a game between him and the Head Mistress and apparently she was winning.

“Have you tried-“

“Glamours, transfiguration, invisibility…I’ve done it all!” 

“Have you put them in a plastic bag and hidden them in their shampoos? Un-touched by magic?”

George froze for a second.

“Holy shit. That…that just may be genius.”

Harry grinned back at him. “Sometimes the best countermeasure against a witch is old fashioned muggle wisdom.”

“Harry!” Hermione seemed to have just clued in to him teaching George how to outwit McGonagall and the inner Head Girl in her was appearing.

“Ah leave it ‘Mione. You know McGonagall loves a challenge. She’ll get a good laugh when she figures it out.” Ron appeased her, finishing up his turkey leg. Suddenly Ron’s face took on a more serious look.

“What we should all be worrying about is the fact that Harry is taking  _ Draco Malfoy  _ on a movie date this week.” Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry laughed.

“It’s not a date Ron, it just that we both read the book it was based on and have been wanting to see it. I asked Hermione too but she’s busy that day.” 

“I am sorry Harry, I would’ve loved to see it. Tell me how it is ok?” She truly did look chagrined about her schedule but deep-down Harry had to wonder if it was entirely true. Hermione was hardly-if ever-busy on a Thursday night and she had been almost keen on the idea of Harry and Draco together. Then again, Harry rationalized, she was a horrid liar and he doubted she would push him into something that might make him uncomfortable. 

Ron huffed a little. “I dunno mate. Its just weird alright? You call him  _ Draco  _ now. You know what kind of books he reads…” He trailed off and shook his head-truly troubled.

“Oh calm down Ronald and pay attention to your sister for heaven's sake!” Molly cried out and immediately Ron turned to face the stadium. Even now at 20 he knew he’d be a fool to ignore his mum.

The rest of the game passed peacefully with everyone chatting aimlessly about school and work and life in general. The Holyhead Harpies lost but only by a few points and the crowd was still supportive and lively. They met with Ginny after they had changed and Harry said goodbye as the family went out for dinner afterwards. Sometime he would join them but he wanted to give them their time together and he did have the cats to get back to after all.

The wind was still high.

* * *

“What rubbish.” Malfoy grumbled to Harry, tossing his empty soda into the bin outside the theater. Harry groaned in agreement.

“Can’t believe they thought that was a fair representation. They left out half the book!” The cool night air hit them when they opened the doors and they huddled deeper into their respective jackets with a shiver. It wasn’t quite winter yet but it certainly felt like it in the evening. 

“Movies always leave stuff out, what horrified me by this shamble was how they just threw the timeline in the bin! I mean come on! They put chapter 5 before chapter 2 and they switched 13 and 18. If you’re going to condense it at least condense it in the proper order.” Draco’s eyes flashed silver in his anger and Harry took a moment to observe what Draco Malfoy looked like when he was talking about something he was passionate about. He had to admit, it was a little mesmerizing.

His elegant almond eyes squinted at the corners and a wrinkle furrowed his smooth brow. His trademark sneer was present but for once Harry thought it looked nice…almost cute.

“Have I got something on my face Harry?” He drawled, the sneer quirking up at one corner. Color rushed to Harry’s cheeks and he chuckled breathlessly. 

“What? Er-no I was just remembering the scene where…”He trailed off at the sight of Malfoy’s quirked brow and disbelieving but patiently amused smile. Harry huffed and blushed again.

“Alright fine I was staring at you. In my defense you’ve never looked so  _ normal _ and I was taken off guard.”

“Hey! I disagree that I’ve never looked normal! You’re the one with the bloody mop hair and scar!” Draco teased pushing against Harry’s shoulder. Harry laughed and shoved back, forgetting that this should be weird for the two of them to joke like this. Forgetting it should be weird to feel this kind of tension between them. They walked through the streets, arms grazing each other with each step and eyes locked ahead of them.

They reached the secluded alleyway they had used to apparate earlier and for a moment the pair dawdled-neither wanting to call it a night but neither sure how to move forward. 

The silence grew awkward and Harry plucked up his courage to ask, “Would you like a tea or something back at my place?” 

“Tea,” Draco repeated but did not seem to understand as he was staring at Harry’s lips. Harry stepped a bit closer bringing himself almost flush against the blonde man. Draco’s eyes brightened a bit and he smiled quickly before biting it back. He considered for a minute and his face twisted in a way Harry couldn’t place.

“I don’t…I don’t think that’s a great idea Harry.” His long fingers curled around Harry’s biceps and gently pushed back, separating them. Harry’s stomach lurched and he suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed.

“Oh.” He muttered shoving his hands in his pockets. The cold London air swirled dangerously in his lungs when he took a deep breath and he suddenly felt very cold. 

“It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the movie Potter but-“

“So we’re back to Potter then?” The words slipped from Harry’s lips before he could consider them and he shivered from the look that crossed Draco’s face then. 

“Harry, it’s always been Potter. There has never been a moment where it hasn’t been absolutely true that you are Harry Potter and I’m Draco  _ Malfoy _ .” He spit the name out like it burned him and a separate but brilliant fire flared in Harry.

“Is that what this is about then? You think I care about who your father was? About who you were-“

“You may not care but the rest of the world certainly will-“

“Who you were  _ forced  _ to be?”

“No one forced my hand Potter I wasn’t bound by chains you know-“

“No not chains just the threat of death-“

“So bloody what you faced worse and you were never such a coward-“

“A coward? You defied Voldemort to his face at Hogwarts! I couldn’t have beat him if I didn’t have your wand and Hermione-“

“Would’ve been fine! Honestly you three are so confident and fool-hardy I don’t think it ever crossed your mind that you  _ could _ die-“

“Are you kidding me?” The air stilled and Draco regretted what he’d just said. He could clearly see in Harry’s eyes all the times he had thought about dying and the words he had said weren’t actually what he’d meant but it didn’t change that he had said them. 

“This is why it’s not a good idea. Obviously, we were deluding ourselves to think we could leave the war behind us.”

Harry scoffed in disbelief his green eyes flashing in the street light and even with his dark complexion Draco could see a flush in his face that he ventured had nothing to do with the cold. He was angry. Spectacularly so. 

“I’ve moved beyond the war Draco.”

“Oh really?” He couldn’t help it, really he couldn’t, “Is that why you ran away to hide in the muggle world? What do you have to hide from Potter?” The temperature dropped several degrees and the wind began to howl through the brick alleys. 

“That’s rich coming from you Malfoy. How’s the manor? Oh that’s right you live in muggle London too don’t you? What ever could  _ you _ be hiding from I wonder?” The green eyes softened and Harry quickly tried to take it back.

“That’s not what I meant Draco-“

“No, you’re right and this proves my point. That’s exactly how the world feels about this. There’s nothing I can do to change it. This…”He trailed off running a hand through his hair, “was a mistake. I should have never asked after you to Granger.” 

His lip quirked at the corner to express a profoundly sad smile. “Goodbye Potter.”

There was a crack and then nothing. Harry was alone.

* * *

“Harry just call him.” Hermione’s voice was firm but gentle. She had been a big proponent of the call from the get go.  _ Straighten it out before it festers… _

Harry huffed and continued to root around in the trunk at the end of his bed. He was trying to find a particular photo for Hermione so she could enlarge it and frame it for her house.

“No Hermione. I already put myself out there trying to initiate something I’m not going to put myself out there and beg for him to be my friend again. The ball is firmly in his court.” Hermione pouted but the tone of his voice oozed finality and she let it go for the moment. 

* * *

“Draco this is getting ridiculous.” 

Draco pretended he hadn’t heard anything and continued to move the palette knife to carefully chosen spots across the canvas. Rouge tinted paint mixed with the mocha base of the form Draco had been painting for the better part of an hour. 

“You know Granger, when you offered to be a model for me I rather envisioned you silent.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Really you two are so infantile. You had a fight. So what? You used to fight all the time in school and you never ran away from the confrontation even when you should have. Why are you running now?” 

The blonde scrutinized the curves of the figure before adding just a bit more width to the hips. He finished blotting the drying paint to get his preferred texture before responding in a melancholy but final tone, “Because this time I care about what he will say back.”

“So you’re just being cowardly.” She reasoned calmly. Grey eyes met her brown ones and he raised a brow.

“ _ You’re  _ the Gryffindor here. I never claimed to be brave. Now hold still.” 

* * *

“Woah. Is that you?” Harry asked in awe. He was staring at a large canvas that had recently been hung on Hermione’s wall. It was an acrylic painting with blocky but incredibly realistic details. It was undoubtedly Hermione but to both Harry and Ron’s surprise it featured her nude, posing in a natural way holding a book that carefully covered her breasts. Her left leg was crossed over her right hiding any more delicate areas. It was quite tasteful but still incredibly intimate.

“Yeah, who erm...who painted it ‘Mione?” Ron stuttered with a dark blush. He may not feel that way for her anymore but the painting was definitely bringing back some memories of an intimate nature.

Hermione smiled proudly at the painting and set down the plates she was holding full of their takeout food. 

“Draco.” She supplied all too simply and both boys regarded her in disbelief for two very different reasons. She noticed Ron’s expression and snipped, “Oh don’t be ridiculous Ronald. I’m not his type and this was purely art.” 

The redhead shut his mouth and cleared his throat grabbing his plate of food. He moved to the living room and sat down with the food clearly deciding to move on and try to forget about the painting. Harry looked at Hermione with a bit more skepticism. 

“So, this must’ve taken a while to paint. Have any good conversations with him?” Hermione smiled innocently and looked pointedly at the painting. 

“Hm you know I don’t recall Harry. Anything you were thinking of in particular?” He set his mouth in a thin line and looked at her deadpan for a few seconds before sighing and grabbing his plate of food.

“Nope.” 

* * *

“Fine.” Harry sat down at his desk with a huff.

“ _ Fine. _ ” He repeated to no one. Padfoot and Prongs lay across from him on the windowsill and regarded him with annoyance for disturbing the silence of the apartment. 

He grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen - really the quills just weren’t efficient- and began writing. 

An hour passed and several crumpled papers lay in and around the waste bin before he was satisfied and folded it into a thick envelope. It was early evening but he figured it wouldn’t be too late as he attached the letter to Hedwig and sent her on her way. 

“Now we wait I guess.” He grumbled to himself as if he hadn’t been waiting weeks (months) already. Grabbing a beer he settled in front of his TV prepared to wait for a response. He just hoped he wouldn’t be waiting in vain.

* * *

_ Draco,  _

_ I’m tired of pretending I’m not upset about how that conversation ended. I’m tired of pretending I don’t miss seeing you. I’m tired of Hermione harassing me.  _

_ Meet at mine for a drink and a talk? _

_ -Harry _

Draco reread the short letter for what seemed like the millionth time. He was unsure but sorely tempted and he felt like maybe he had waited too long to accept. After all he’d gotten the letter 3 hours ago. Would Harry even be awake still? He sighed and looked at the letter again before deciding it didn’t matter how late it was. He wouldn’t wait any longer. He’d go over for a drink and he would talk it out with Harry. They’d agree that they could never work out as a romance but they could remain friends. That’s how it would go.

Draco changed from his loungewear to a casual-he hoped-outfit and combed his hair back. He brushed his teeth more out of neurotic paranoia than necessity and then with a deep breath apparated to the alley next to Harry’s flat. The cold air bit his skin on his trip to the door and he took a moment to breathe in the crisp night air. It was nearly Christmas he thought.

Perhaps he would move to this part of town. He rather liked the lights at night and it was close to some of his favorite spots. He tried to ignore the fact that they were favorites because Harry had shown them to him and climbed the stairs two at a time. 

* * *

Harry was a little, teensy, tiny bit drunk. What had started as a beer to kill the time turned into a few shots of Firewhiskey to ease to ache of being ignored. It had been 3 hours after all. Surely he would’ve come sooner if he had accepted the invitation. 

He shouldn’t have listened to Hermione. She meant well but she pushed too much and this had been a bad idea.

His face was hot and the whole room was hot and suddenly he didn’t feel like wearing his shirt anymore. Why shouldn’t he be shirtless in his own house? No one was coming to visit tonight. He poured another glass of firewhiskey with a single ice cube that began to melt immediately due to the warm nature of the magical drink. 

“Better drink it fast I guess,” Harry muttered and took a large sip of the drink. It burned delightfully down his throat and the general feeling of it had his mind wandering to other warm things moving down his body. Stupid Draco. Who needed him? Harry was an attractive, single man. He could find someone to spend his nights with.

_ Company in bed wasn’t the same as a relationship though is it?  _ He countered in his head. He frowned at that. 

A small knock at his door interrupted his reverie and he ran his hand through his hair thoroughly and accidentally mussing it up in his clumsy stupor. He slowly made his way to the front door trying to keep steady as the level of drunk rushed to his head with movement. Vaguely he realized the he had set the glass down somewhere but he couldn’t quite remember where.

Reaching the door he took a second to stabilize himself and find his wand-in his pocket-before looking out the peephole. It was all a little blurry -was he wearing his glasses?-but he thought he recognized the bright blonde hair so he opened the door to find Draco Malfoy standing there awkwardly. 

“Draco.”

* * *

Draco flushed. Harry was not wearing a shirt. That was the first thing he noticed before quickly noticing how messy his hair was and how red his face and chest were and  _ oh dear god was Harry not alone???  _

He cleared his throat and apologized, “Oh god Harry, I just. Sorry I thought you’d be alone. I’ll leave now.” He stepped back to turn away before he could see the confused look on Harry’s face but he didn’t get far before he felt a hand grab his shirt and pull him into the apartment. 

“Hey!” He protested at the rough treatment of his good clothes but he quickly shut up when Harry shut the door and pressed him against it. Well, sort of. 

Draco was pinned against the door for sure but Harry had his hands on the wood on either side of his head and was more leaning against him for...support? That’s when Draco smelled the firewhiskey and it made a little more sense. Harry wasn’t with someone else he was just drunk.

_ Great. _

“Harry you’re kind of crushing me.” Draco complained lightly hoping that he would ignore him and continue to press against him in that wonderful way. Of course Harry was too kind for that and immediately pulled back, stumbling a little bit before regaining his footing and staring at Draco in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. 

“You came.” Harry muttered thickly. Draco quirked an eyebrow.

“And you drank. A lot it would seem.” A glance around the apartment revealed a discarded shirt on the floor near the couch where the half empty bottle of firewhiskey sat. A glass was on the floor beside the shirt although it was upright and seemed to have been placed semi-deliberately. 

“Yeah. You want a glass?” Harry asked suddenly looking around for a spare cup for him and Draco sighed. 

“Sit down, I’ll grab one myself.” He made his was to the kitchen that he knew as well as his own and grabbed a glass. If Harry was going to be piss drunk he may as well have a glass or two. He felt he might need some liquid courage for this conversation. And he needed Harry to put his shirt back on.

He found the tan man sitting on the couch holding his glass once more and in one fluid motion Draco sat beside him and pulled the glass from his hands.

“I think you’re good for a bit. Let me catch up a little huh?” He tried not to flush at the look Harry gave him then and instead focused on pouring himself some of the drink. 

“Oh and put your shirt back on.” He snipped out a little harsher than he meant but if Harry heard the edge to his voice he didn’t react to it. He grabbed the rumpled fabric and pulled it clumsily over his head.

“Sorry. Was hot.” Draco glanced at the man’s bare chest now that his eyes were covered with the cloth and mentally agreed. Yes. He was rather hot. Draco swallowed the glass in one gulp and poured himself another. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sitting was good. It helped everything feel still again and not turning and spinning like it had been a minute ago. Harry was distantly aware that he was probably embarrassing himself but he couldn’t help it. He really didn’t think Draco was coming over. He was surprised when Draco took him up on his offer of a drink but he was glad. Maybe he would seem less ridiculous if Draco was a little drunk as well. 

Maybe then it wouldn’t be so obvious that he was staring. He couldn’t help it though, Draco looked  _ good.  _ Draco always looked good. Why had he never noticed that in school?

“So.” Draco said softly turning his gaze to Harry’s. A warm tinge of color was beginning to appear on Draco’s face and Harry wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or if Draco was blushing.

“So.” Harry repeated uncertainly. Neither one knew how to start the conversation. Neither really knew what they wanted but seeing as Draco was the more sober of the two he figured he should start the conversation.

“So you wanted to talk. What about exactly?” 

“You know what about Draco.” Harry retorted grumpily. He shifted his gaze away awkwardly before continuing, “Why didn’t you come home with me after the movie?” 

* * *

He hadn’t expected that question though he really should have. 

“Oh. Um. We … discussed… it that night Harry. I don’t think I fully understand the question.” Draco hastily sipped more of his drink trying to avoid Harry’s gaze. Harry leaned closer to the blonde.

“Yes you do. I know you wanted to. Why didn’t you?” 

Draco felt his face warming uncomfortably from embarrassment and he quickly finished his glass of firewhiskey. 

“Harry, I...you’re right. I wanted to.” He looked over to find a smug looking Harry staring back at him.

“But it’s not about what I want Harry, it’s about what’s right and you and me together isn’t right.” Harry’s smug grin did not falter and he moved even closer, letting his hand raise to brush against Draco’s cheek much to the blonde’s surprise.

“Since when did you care about what’s right and what’s wrong Draco?” He knew he didn’t mean it maliciously but Harry’s words were exactly why he cared. He pulled back, leaning away over the arm of the couch noting that he was in a very submissive position but not caring at the moment.

“Since I chose wrong in the most serious way Harry.” Pain flashed across vibrant green eyes when they took in his meaning.

“Do you think you’re not worthy of love Draco?” Harry mumbled, his eyes dropping a little to glance at Draco’s lips before bringing them back up.

Malfoy gulped and realized he needed to be as honest about this as he could-even if it made him vulnerable.

“I’m worthy of love. I’m just not deserving of  _ your  _ love and the whole world knows it.”

“I don’t know that.” Harry replied firmly his hand returning to the pale man’s cheek. Draco tried to move from his grasp but Harry leaned forward pinning him down with his chest so he couldn’t escape. 

“Stop.” Harry chided. It felt wonderful to be touching Draco like this and before he could really realize what he was doing Harry had leaned forward and pecked Draco’s lips with his own. It was a quick but meaningful kiss and Draco jumped at the contact but stopped moving away.

They lay with their faces inches away for a few moments just looking into each other’s eyes and then Harry slowly lowered his face until their lips were against one another’s again. This time he let his mouth move purposefully against Draco’s and his hand moved from his cheek to his hair and he let his fingers card through the strands of soft gel free hair.

Draco inhaled at the feeling and he felt himself shifting his body against his better judgement so that his hips aligned with Harry’s and he was flatter against the couch cushions. Harry’s lips quirked up against his at the apparent submission and he let his free hand wander across Draco’s chest.

Harry let his tongue gently move forward into Draco’s mouth and softly intertwine with Draco’s pulling a groan from the Slytherin’s chest. Their kisses were warm with cinnamon and a strange hint of mint? Harry let himself be confused for a moment and then realized he had better things to focus on. The noises Draco was making egged Harry on and he let himself settle more firmly against him, slightly dragging his hips across the other man’s and reveling in the feel of a quickly hardening member.

“Harry,” Draco sighed between kisses. The man in question pulled back slightly.

“Is this ok Draco?” He still felt hazy and he was pretty sure it wasn’t the case but he didn’t want to force himself on Draco. Grey eyes sparkled in amusement and regarded him for a moment with a contemplative look.

“Shut up Potter.” Draco’s hand threaded into Harry’s hair and he pulled the wizard back against his mouth. All gentle exploration burned away with a sudden fiery desire to get as close as they could. They groaned and pulled each other closer and nipped at each other’s lips while grinding the hips together.

Draco was the first to up the ante letting his hand trail down from Harry’s hair to the waistline of his pants. Harry gasped and quickly pulled his shirt off and threw it back on the floor where it had lain minutes before. Draco groaned in approval and let his other hand explore the expanse of Harry’s muscular back. Harry’s hands slipped beneath Draco’s t-shirt and lifted it over Draco’s head, throwing it to join the other shirt. 

Harry grabbed Draco’s wrists and held them above his head using this moment to kiss along his neck. Draco breathed out his pleasure and whimpered a little when Harry bit down at the junction of his neck and shoulder. 

“Harry I-” Both of their heads snapped towards the fireplace where a slightly sooty Hermione was emerging. She jumped and gasped loudly her eyes taking in the scene before her and she quickly covered her eyes.

“Oh my god I am so sorry I was just trying to return-oh nevermind. Bye! Have a good time!” The bushy haired witch quickly hurried back through the fireplace with a quick muttering of her address and a flurry of green flames. Silence rang through the apartment. Then suddenly laughter.

Draco was laughing loudly and Harry looked down slightly slower to find the humor in the situation but upon seeing the mirth on Draco’s face he joined in. Slowly Harry pulled away so that they could both sit beside each other on the couch, shirtless and chuckling. The tension in the air had dissipated and now-feeling only a tad more sober-Harry realized that they really should talk before just jumping into this.

He laced his fingers with the blonde’s and looked over with a small smile. Draco looked back, equally grounded by Hermione’s unexpected arrival. He leaned into Harry’s hand when it brushed his hair back behind his ear and he smiled when lips touched his cheek.

“I want to keep talking about this,” Harry sighed heavily, his words growing heavier and he suddenly felt exhausted, “but I think I want to be sober for this.” Draco nodded in agreement and squeezed his hand. 

“Sensible.”

Harry bit his lip and looked around the room at the mess he’d left. Hopefully Draco wouldn’t judge him too harshly on his messy place the next morning.

“I’ll uh, just get dressed and I’ll come back tomorrow?” Harry’s head spun to find a nervous looking Draco with a look of disbelief.

“What do you mean you’ll come back? Just stay.”  _ Just stay.  _

The words hung heavy between them as Harry waited for his response. Draco mulled it over for a minute before whispering, “Okay…” 

They quickly and mechanically picked up their belongings and made their way to Harry’s room which Draco had never seen until this moment. He took a moment to appreciate the decor before focusing on the Queen bed in the middle of the room. It didn’t seem very large in comparison to Draco’s King and he wondered if he could behave in such close proximity. 

Harry rooted around in his dresser for a moment before tossing some sweats at Draco.

“You can borrow these. You want a shirt too?” Draco nodded numbly. He hadn’t been planning to stay over and he did like to bundle up during the winter for sleep. He could not sleep with any bit of him being cold. Living in the dorms in the dungeons at Hogwarts had been misery.

Harry tossed him a grey thermal and Draco tried not to lose focus when Harry stripped off his pants and pulled on some clothes for bed. Harry looked back and smirked when he realized Draco was staring. He nodded towards the bed.

“You can get comfortable, I’m just going to brush my teeth.” 

* * *

Harry brushed his teeth quickly, not wanting to give Draco any time to feel awkward. His cinnamon toothpaste was reminiscent of the burning firewhiskey and he knew he’d need a Hangover Potion in the morning. He thought about toothpaste and how Draco must have brushed his teeth before coming over. Harry hated mint, but somehow the taste was so good on Draco’s tongue. 

When he came out Draco was already under the covers and turned to face the door. Harry’s heart jumped and he hoped this wouldn’t be a mistake waiting to talk before they continued on. He just wanted to make sure they had settled everything. He didn’t want anymore miscommunications. 

He slid into bed beside Draco and was glad when the blonde turned over to face Harry with a smile. 

“Hi,” Harry said awkwardly. Draco chuckled and leaned in to give Harry a soft kiss in response. Instinct drove Harry to push closer and deepen the kiss. Their noses pressed flat against one another but they both pushed forward trying to get as close as possible. Harry sighed into Draco’s mouth and the blonde opened his lips allowing Harry’s tongue to enter. 

“Cinnamon?” Draco muttered between kisses with an air of confusion. Harry’s spicy taste seemed stronger than before but, Draco reasoned, it should be diminished if he brushed his teeth.

“Hate mint.” Harry grunted moving closer so that they were touching all along their bodies. Draco snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Pathetic.” He responded grabbing Harry’s hip and pulling him even closer with a gasp at the contact. Harry’s hands grasped Draco’s face and he let one hand snake into his hair and lightly pull on it. A loud moan pressed against Harry’s lips and he smirked. So Malfoy liked to have his hair pulled. Noted.

“I’ll show you pathetic,” Harry challenged pushing Draco back so that he was hovering over the blonde. He let his legs settle on either side of his hips and he ground down against Draco’s hard cock. 

“Fuck,” Malfoy exclaimed throwing his head back. Harry swooped down to kiss the exposed neck as he continued to grind against him. He slipped a hand down to where they were touching and let his hand lightly trace Malfoy’s erection. Malfoy gasped and groaned. 

“Thought you wanted to wait,” Malfoy breathed. 

“Since when do you listen to me,” Harry countered and he gripped Malfoy through his sweats. He let out a strangled groan. He reached down and grabbed Harry’s wrist to stop him from moving anymore. They met eyes and Draco breathed heavily.

“Since I want this to work out.” Harry sighed heavily and stared into the grey eyes below him. His body was at war with one head agreeing that Draco was right and the other arguing that Draco was a prat and why should they listen to him anyway?

Grudgingly Harry rolled over so he lay next to Malfoy instead of on top of him. Draco turned to face him and he grabbed Harry’s hand and gave it a soft kiss.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you if you want tomorrow.” Harry pouted dramatically.

“You’d better.” They smiled at one another and then they let the alcohol and the late hour take hold of their consciousness and they slipped off to sleep holding each other’s hand.

* * *

Draco was more comfortable than he’d been in a long time. He was in incredibly soft bed with something incredibly warm behind him and something soft and warm in front of him. He let his eyes open a little and he saw sunlight streaming through a window he didn’t recognize. His eyes were a little sensitive to the light and he remembered that he had been drinking last night with Harry. The warmth behind him shifted and a strong arm wrapped itself around Draco’s waist.

Ah yes.

He glanced down and saw Padfoot curled up against his chest and he smiled. What a nice way to wake up. He felt a little pang of guilt when he realized that he had failed to convince Potter was a bad match he was. He was too selfish to try as hard as he should’ve. 

“Draco…”Harry breathed in his sleep, his warm breath warming the back of Draco’s neck. He shivered at the feeling and suddenly he didn’t care again. 

He let his eyes slip closed and willed himself to go back to bed. He’d worry about it when he woke up. For now he would enjoy the feeling while he could.

* * *

Harry woke not much later with a splitting headache that had him groaning. Why had he thought it was a wise decision to drink half the bottle of firewhiskey? Oh yeah because Draco had waited three hours before responding. God he was pathetic for this man.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was spooned against a sleeping Draco and suddenly his headache wasn’t important anymore. He blushed and he started to grow hard at the memories from last night. His current position didn’t help his situation what with Draco’s fine arse nestled against him. He thought about enjoying that fantasy a little more but his stomach began to roil and he knew he needed to get a Hangover Potion first. 

Quietly and very gently he removed himself from Draco and padded out into the kitchen to find what he was looking for. His head felt both heavy and light at the same time and he struggled to not give in to the vertigo. Luckily he had a couple potions left from his birthday party and he swallowed it down quickly.

Fire like heat exploded from his chest down his legs, along his arms and through his head. He gasped at the strongly unpleasant sensation for just a second and then it was done and he felt great, if a little tired. He had only gotten a few hours sleep after all. That done his stomach began rumbling and he realized he hadn’t eaten dinner the night before. 

_ That explains how I got so drunk _ . He thought. A quick look in the fridge told him he needed to go to the grocery store. He didn’t want to wake Draco but he didn’t want him to just wake up alone in his apartment. He scribbled a quick note saying where he was going and tiptoed back to the room to find a still sleeping Draco with a very pleased Padfoot. Harry smiled and set the note down on his side of the bed before grabbing some clothes and heading out.

* * *

The second time Draco woke up was less pleasant than the first. There was a heavy weight on his chest which he quickly deduced was the cat. Much as he liked the beast he was rather heavy to lay there. Draco shifted so the cat pounced off and he rolled to face Harry. His eyes opened and he realized that Harry was not there. 

Interesting.

He saw a small piece of paper where he would’ve been and realized he’d left a note.

_ Went to get food. Be back soon. Make yourself at home. _

Harry had drawn a moving doodle of a smiling face blowing kisses and Draco grinned at how silly it was. Fuck he liked this man.

He let himself relax in bed for a couple minutes more and then hopped up and made his way into the living room. It was still a bit of a mess from the night before so he cast a couple of tidying spells including a scourgify where someone had knocked over one of their glasses of firewhiskey. He recapped the spirit and put it back where it was kept in the kitchen and just as he was wondering if he should shower, Harry returned with some groceries and some pastries from the coffee shop down the road.

“Morning,” Harry grinned and leaned in to give Draco a small kiss before setting down the bags and unpacking the food. Draco was a little startled at how casual Harry seemed with his affection but thinking on it it did make sense. They’d known each other for nearly ten years and had been rather close for a few months now. It’s not like they were strangers.

“Morning.” He responded and he gratefully took the pastry Harry held out to him. He ate the delicious breakfast while he watched Harry put away food and he marveled at how domestic this felt.

When he was done Harry sat beside him on a stool at the counter and pulled out his breakfast. 

“So.” Draco began again. Harry chuckled.

“So.” 

“I assume you’re more sober now?” Harry smirked and finished off his food, putting both plates in the sink before coming back to lean across the counter facing Draco.

“I am.”

“So…” Draco hedged. He didn’t really want to have this conversation but he supposed he owed it to Harry after ditching him months ago out of fear. 

Harry held up a finger. “Coffee first.” Draco nodded dumbly.

Harry made them coffee quickly and then led Draco out to the couch where they sat beside each other with an appropriate amount of space between them.

“What do  _ you  _ want Draco?” Harry asked rather abruptly. 

This was a hard question for Draco and he had honestly thought they would work up to it but it seemed Harry was in a hurry to be done with conversation. Fair enough. 

What did Draco want? On one hand it was clear what he wanted: Harry, anyway he could have him but particularly as lovers. On the other hand he had enormous anxiety over the thought that he might make Harry’s life hard by being with him. Harry may have forgiven him-to an unbelievable extent in Malfoy’s opinion-but the rest of the wizarding world had not forgotten. It was why he had moved to muggle London and actively avoided wizarding functions.

Apparently he had been quiet too long because Harry’s hand gripped his shoulder and he looked up to see a patient Harry looking at him.

“Draco? What do you want? Do you want to be with me? Do you want something casual? Do you want to just be friends? I need some idea of where this is going or I’m inevitably going to embarrass myself.” He smiled kindly but there was an edge of nerves to it. 

Well, honesty was the best policy right?

“I’m conflicted Harry. I want to be with you but...it makes me nervous that this may end up hurting you.”

Harry set his coffee mug down on the table and pulled Draco against him in a kind of side hug. 

“Hey, don’t worry about any of that right now. Just focus on what I’m asking. Do you want to be with me, in a relationship or do you want to take is slowly and just keep it casual?” Draco’s body thrummed at the contact between him and Harry and he knew he couldn’t do just casual with him. There was no one that could compare to him so why would he even look elsewhere?

“If we were going to be anything it wouldn’t be casual Harry.” 

“Good.” Harry’s lips found Draco’s and they were still warm from his coffee. Somehow Draco managed to put his mug down on the table before turning to face Harry more directly so he could deepen the kiss. It seemed like Harry was done talking but Draco still had some questions.

“Harry what about the media?” 

“What about ‘em?” He responded but it didn’t sound like a question, he was too busy kissing along Draco’s jaw.

“What will they say?” He continued on. Harry pulled back and cupped Draco’s cheek with his hand. His thumb brushed along the cheekbone and he stared thoughtfully into Draco’s grey eyes. 

“Who  _ cares _ ?” Harry stated firmly. Draco’s heart leapt and he realized that Harry was right. Harry wasn’t really in the wizarding world right now either. They could do what they wanted here. If they wanted to go back one day then they could worry about the press but for now…

“Ok.” He said simply. Harry smirked.

“Ok?” 

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, I believe you mentioned something about making it up to me tomorrow last night? Well, it’s tomorrow…”

* * *

Draco was screwed. He internally rolled his eyes at the pun but it was true nonetheless. Harry had given him that look and then next thing he knew they were kissing and fumbling their way to Harry’s bedroom. It was hard to get far when they kept alternately pushing each other against the wall and snogging themselves senseless but that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that he-Draco Malfoy-had promised to make it up to Harry Potter that he had cockblocked them the night before. The problem was that he didn’t know if he had enough self control to put a lot of thought into how this went down. Already he was so hard it was uncomfortable. Every touch, every bite and every moan was being directed straight to his cock.

They finally found their way to the bedroom and Draco managed to push Harry down onto the bed, gaining the upperhand by climbing onto his hips and pressing down in a slow circle. Harry gasped and threw his head back at the feeling and Draco let his hands run up underneath the blue shirt he was wearing. 

“Lift your arms.” He commanded and Harry obediently followed. With his shirt gone DRaco had access to lean down and kiss his chest, trailing down as his legs slipped off the bed so he was standing over Harry’s prone form. His hands preceded his mouth to the top of his pants and they quickly unbuttoned the jeans and pulled them and his underwear down letting Harry’s thick cock free. 

Draco took a moment to look at naked Harry-a sight he  _ never  _ thought he would see. He was unbelievable. His thick, messy black hair was a little longer than it was in school so that it fanned out around his head. His light brown skin was smooth save for his scars which were quite stark. The famous lightning scar was a delicate light pink against the dark skin, the words that Umbridge had essentially carved where mottled scars and the words were nearly unreadable. 

Draco leaned forward and gently kissed the lightning scar hoping that the gasp was good before lifting his hand to kiss the horrible message on his hand. There were several more scars along his torso which Draco took the time to find and kiss affectionately. 

When he reached his abdomen Draco changed course and let his hand wrap firmly around Harry’s erection, smiling at the moan. He kissed the sensitive skin on each side of the pelvis before letting his lips touch the smooth skin of his cock. 

“Fuck, Draco.” Harry grunted.

“Language Potter.” He glanced up to see the annoyed look on Harry’s face and maintained the gaze as he swallowed his head. Harry’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open when Malfoy sucked lightly and moved his head down so he was taking all of Harry. Draco sucked as he pulled up until he only had the head in his mouth then he plunged back down. Harry grunted and fisted his hands in Draco’s hair unable to control his hips from thrusting up. 

Draco choked a little but readjusted his position so that it was more comfortable for him to keep up his pace. He let one hand latch onto Harry’s hip and the other hand caressed down towards Harry’s opening. The Gryffindor whimpered when he felt Malfoy’s finger circling the entrance and he breathed a quiet Accio to get his preferred lube. 

Draco’s eyes glanced up when he heard the snikt of the bottle and smiled around Harry’s cock when the man held out the open lube. Draco pulled off completely with a small satisfying pop and immediately replaced his mouth with his hand working the still wet erection. 

“Do you want me inside you Potter?” Draco drawled in as best an imitation of his former school taunts as possible. Harry chuckled breathlessly and retorted, “Fuck off Malfoy.”

“I thought you wanted me to fuck you?” He returned easily, squeezing a dollop of lube onto Harry’s prick and spreading it with his other hand. “Or,” he countered, “did you want to fuck me?” Harry’s eye squeezed shut at the feeling of Draco’s hand and at the vision his words created. He heard a throaty laugh and then suddenly a hand gripped the back of Harry’s neck and pulled him so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Draco’s hand still stroked his cock, swiping the head to spread the precum around.

Their foreheads pressed together and they shared breaths for a moment before Draco said, “I rather think you want to fuck me Potter.” Harry shuddered and nodded, his hand reaching for Malfoy’s still covered cock. He stroked it through the fabric and Draco groaned, his hand stilling.

“Yes please.” Harry murmured bringing his lips to Draco’s in a firm kiss. He bit his lip and the blonde gasped, allowing himself to be turned around so that he lay on the bed beside Harry who quickly looped his fingers under the waistline of the sweats he was wearing and pulled them down with the assistance of Draco lifting his hips. 

Harry marveled at how smooth and evenly pale Draco was all the way to the tip of his toes. His hand grasped one leg and lifted it so he could run his fingers over the skin. He stopped at the knee where he hooked his hand under and pulled the leg up until Draco’s muscles stopped him. With his other hand he squeezed some lube from the bottle onto Draco’s erection and firmly fisted his now glistening cock. 

Draco’s eyes clenched shut and he groaned at the feeling, his breath coming in pants when he felt more lube around his entrance. Slowly, and with more patience than seemed reasonable, Harry pressed a single finger into Malfoy’s entrance. The tight ring of muscles resisted for just a moment before Draco relaxed. Harry’s finger sought out the bundle of nerves he knew was inside and when he heard a deep huff he knew he had found it. 

Gently he rubbed over the nerves, pressing more firmly as he went. Draco’s mouth dropped open and he panted his eyes still screwed shut. Harry slicked another finger and soon Draco was pushing his hips down to increase the friction. Harry leaned over so he could kiss Draco’s chest pausing to flick his tongue over the pert nipple. 

“Harry….”Draco complained and he grinned. He leaned further, pressing Draco’s raised leg down with him so he could reach his neck. He sloppily kissing and licked and sucked the tender skin there before biting down.

“Fuck!” The blonde exclaimed while slamming his hips down on Harry’s fingers. 

“Language Malfoy.” Harry quipped but he moved back so he could lubricate a final finger and he joined them together to press into Malfoy. Draco’s hand slipped down to his cock and he pulled lazily on it, enjoying the building anticipation but not seeking to relieve it quite yet. Harry’s dick ached to be inside him and after a moment he felt he was probably ready. He slicked his cock once more and lined up with his entrance. 

Their eyes met and Harry slowly pressed forward. Draco made no noise but his face said everything. Harry greedily watched his expression shift between anticipation, a very brief moment of discomfort that was hastily replaced by awed pleasure. When he was fully within Draco, Harry let himself still, leaning down somewhat uncomfortably to press a kiss to Draco’s lips. 

Draco moaned and tried to raise himself up more to reach better and they lay for a moment unmoving save their lips which were languidly exploring each other. 

Slowly Harry shifted his hips back and then pressed forward. He found an easy rhythm that had Draco and himself panting. 

“Draco you feel so good,” Harry grunted speeding up his thrusts. He could feel himself quickly climbing and he wanted to bring Draco along with him. He wrapped his hot hand around the prone man’s cock and he firmly fisted it in time with his thrusts.

“Holy shit,” Draco spat out, his whole body flushing. He let out a long groan that hiked up near the end and turned into Draco calling out Harry’s name as he came. Harry continued to stroke through Draco’s orgasm, letting the thick white streams of cum cover his hand. Harry was almost there and he pressed deeper.

He looked up to see Draco’s adoring face flushed red and the look in his eyes sent Harry over the edge. He came inside Draco and fell forward crushing the other man. 

Draco’s arms wrapped around his sweaty shoulders instinctively and they breathed heavily against one another finally out of words to say.

**Author's Note:**

> ...ta da?


End file.
